Struggle To Be Heard
by celticfirefly
Summary: Sandy, with the help of his friends, must overcome several problems that come with being silent. A tall, dark individual might cause some problems though. Set in high school. Jack and Pitch also feature in this but I couldn't fit them on the characters list.
1. More Mature Than He Realises

Struggle to be Heard

_Each chapter will focus in some way on an opinion that someone has about Sandy and how he overcomes this/proves them wrong._

Chapter 1 – More Mature Than He Realises

"C'mon kiddo, get a move on or you'll be late!" An elderly man yelled up the stairs to where his grandson was yet to emerge from his room. Said grandson was just putting on his favourite yellow jumper before heading downstairs to grab some breakfast. He was short for his age, and had blonde spiky hair that always seemed to look like he had just got out of bed. His eyes were a golden shade of brown that, if you cared to look hard enough, would speak more volumes than the boy ever could.

"Hey, there you are. I put some toast in for you, spread is on the table."

Sandy grabbed a plate then picked up his toast on the way to the table, and proceeded to slather the toast with peanut butter.

"You better hurry up or you're going to miss the bus." The elderly man sat opposite his grandson with a cup of coffee and his favourite newspaper. He looked up though when he saw Sandy shaking his head and signing to him.

"_I'm not getting the bus. We agreed I was walking."_

"Yes but it's quite a way for you walk on your own."

Sandy sighed and rolled his eyes good naturedly, "_Yes but it isn't far to North's house. Then we're picking everyone else up along the way. I live the furthest from school so it makes sense for me to head over to them."_ Sandy knew his granddad worried about him. It had just been the two of them for a long time.

Looking at the clock, he realised he would have to leave soon if he didn't want to be late. He went to put his shoes on and grabbed his bag, before throwing a wave goodbye to his granddad.

"Just be careful and have a good day!" The door shut quietly behind the short boy without a reply, though the man wasn't expecting one.

It wasn't far to North's house. Sandy was looking forward to meeting up with him, with the whole group. They had all spent some time together over the summer but each had other things to do with their families and it felt like it had been a long time since they had really all gotten together. They had been friends for a long time.

Sandy walked up the path to his friend's door and reached up to use the door knocker. Suddenly the door was thrown open and Sandy was faced with the large form of North.

North, actually called Nicholas Claussen, was huge. He was heavyset in a way that made him the perfect candidate for the football team, which he happened to be a star player on. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were a sharp blue. North was a passionate person and that; combined with his size and thick Russian accent; often meant that he came across as intimidating. That is, until you spent five minutes with the guy, then you realised there was a lot more to him.

"Sandy! Good to see you, come in, come in. I'm nearly ready."

Sandy stepped into the hallway and, on seeing North's mum and dad in the kitchen, sent a wave in greeting. They smiled and waved back, and Sandy returned his attention back to his large friend.

North grabbed his favourite red jacket and followed Sandy out the door. As they walked to their next stop, North told Sandy all about how he had gone to stay with his older brother for a week. North and his brother were close but he had moved on and had his own house and a good job. North went to visit him often and his brother returned for the holidays, but Sandy knew that his friend missed having his older brother nearer. North had always looked up to him.

The next person they were stopping to pick up was Aster. His full name was E. Aster Bunnymund. No-one could get him to say what the E stood for and an attempt to give him the nickname 'Bunny' did not end well.

It didn't take long to reach Aster's house and within seconds the door was thrown open for them and they were met with a shout of,

"Finally!"

Sandy and North stepped into the house awaiting an explanation. Aster was a blur, grabbing his shoes and bag before pushing them back out the door. It wasn't until the door slammed behind him that he relaxed and began to explain.

"My parents are driving me round the bend! They still don't get that I'm not a kid anymore!"

At his friends' amused looks he added, "I know, they love me but I need my space. My mum still wants to pick out my clothes, it's embarrassing!"

North let out a loud laugh while Sandy was silently cracking up beside him.

"_Maybe you should let her."_

"Hey, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Aster demanded, looking down at himself. He was wearing long shorts and a dark green tank top under a green jacket, hiding a slim but muscular frame built from hours on the running track. His brown hair was short and his green eyes narrowed at the much shorter boy.

Sandy threw his hands up in mock surrender but the smile broke all illusions of seriousness. Aster laughed and led the way down the path and on towards Thea's house leaving North and Sandy to catch up. He had spent a large part of the summer visiting family back in Australia and he told them all about the camping trip and surfing lessons he had enjoyed. North retold how he had spent his summer. Sandy was about to add what he had done when they arrived at Thea's house.

Sandy buzzed at the gate and waited before a bored voice came through, "State your name and business." He frowned, turned to the others and shrugged, moving out of the way so North could answer, "We are here to pick Thea up for school. We are her classmates."

Sandy looked up at the camera and gave a friendly wave. A few seconds later there was a buzz and the gate swung open to let them onto the huge driveway leading up to the house.

As they stepped onto the porch and rang the bell they could hear a familiar commotion coming from inside. When the door opened a wall of noise hit the three boys. It was the sound of at least eight children, ages ranging from three to thirteen. It seemed like chaos, everyone in various stages of being ready for the day. In amongst them, helping one of her many younger siblings tie a plait in her hair, was their friend Thea.

Her long, dark hair had several streaks of colours and her purple eyes were narrowed in concentration as her finger quickly entwined the younger girl's hair. The brightly coloured top she was wearing meant that she was easy to pick out in the busy household, and as always she had a pair of delicate feather earrings and an intricate gold bracelet and necklace.

Once she was finished she looked up and spotted her friends by the front door.

"Hey guys! I'll be right over just let me grab my stuff and finish up helping these little monsters get ready and we can head off, you need to get your shoes, socks are in the laundry room, you can't wear that go and get a clean shirt from the closet…"

North, Aster and Sandy glanced at each other knowing full well she could keep talking at full speed until someone stopped her.

She was surprisingly efficient and it wasn't too long before she was ushering the guys out the door and back past the gates. Once they had started towards their final stop before school, Thea launched into an animated description of her family's trip to India and all the amazing things they had seen and done.

Jack was the last of their group to collect, living closest to the school, but they were beginning to run late so the four friends picked up the pace and it wasn't long before they were approaching the small house.

They walked through the front garden and up to the door, knocking on the dark stained wood. Jack's mum opened the door and gave them a warm smile.

"Good morning guys, Jack will be right out." At that she turned and called to Jack to 'get his butt into gear' before asking if they all had a good summer.

A jumbled reply of 'yes thank you', 'it was wonderful' and an enthusiastic thumbs up from Sandy came from the group and she smiled warmly at them. "Glad to hear it, though I know Jack has missed you all."

"Mom! Don't embarrass me."

Jack had appeared behind her as he struggled to get his favourite blue hoody over his head. Eventually his mop of chocolate brown hair pushed its way through followed by the rest of his head and his ice blue eyes looked accusingly but not unkindly at his mum. She moved out of the way so her son could slip past and join his friends. As they left she wished him a good day at school and went back inside.

"So Jack, have a good summer?"

"It was too hot! I felt like I was melting most of the time, and I had to spend most of it with my little sister."

Sandy got his attention and gave him a puzzled look, _"I thought you liked your sister?"_

"Yeah, it wasn't so bad but I got grounded for a week for pulling a prank on her and her friends."

They continued chatting until they reached the school and headed inside to find their lockers and collect their new class schedules. They each had a couple of classes together and as they finished at their lockers they moved on to their first class until only Sandy was left.

As he was closing his locker he felt someone behind him and turned, expecting it to be one of his friends waiting for him. Instead, it was the last person he wanted to see.

Pitch was tall, with jet black hair that he slicked back. He was always in black but never in a way that could be described as 'Goth' and he managed to pull it off as stylish and smart. He was also the head of a ruthless gang, always causing trouble but never getting caught. His father was a very successful lawyer and the apple definitely hadn't fallen far from the tree.

He had piercing eyes that were a silver shade of grey, and they were looking straight at him. Sandy looked from Pitch to the three other guys that flanked him and also served to cut off any escape.

He narrowed his eyes at Pitch and signed "_Pitch, have a good summer?"_

Pitch was well known for picking out individuals and making their lives hell and Sandy was going to tread carefully so as not to make the situation worse but making sure to give the message 'I'm not going to be intimidated by you'.

Pitch surprised him by answering, "I'm not interested in small talk little man." The surrounding guys obviously hadn't expected their leader to have understood the strange hand signals as they glanced quickly back and forth between the short blonde and Pitch.

"_In that case tell me what you want or move out my way please."_

"What I want," he advanced into Sandy's personal space, "is your fear."

Sandy felt a shiver run through him but held his ground. He tried to give a look of indifference and push past the wall of thugs but was forced back, his head bouncing off the lockers behind him. Trying not to show how nervous he was getting as Pitch closed in once again, Sandy tried to stand up straight while trying not to resign himself to the amount of pain that could be heading his way. Suddenly the shrill tone of the bell cut through the tension and Pitch glowered up and down the corridor, backing off as he saw a teacher walk around the corner.

Taking the opportunity presented to him and slipping past the gang, Sandy headed quickly to his first class and let out the breath he had been holding in a quick sigh. Saved by the bell never felt so literal.

* * *

_So, I have to confess that I'm British so I apologise for any mistakes I've made to do with American high school. Please feel free to let me know in a review and I will endeavour to correct them. Oh yeah, and let me know if anyone gets the chapter title...who has this opinion of Sandy? I'm just curious to know if I made this too vague or if I'm worrying for no reason._

_Also, this is my first ever story on Fanfiction so I hope you've enjoyed it so far. This was only a taste of things to come and there will be much more drama and action in future chapters!_


	2. Smarter Than They Realise

_I should mention that I don't own anything but the story idea and the OCs_

* * *

Chapter 2 – Smarter Than They Realise

As the weeks went by Sandy was beginning to see a pattern in the classes he was taking. He would sit attentively every lesson, making notes and reading the material. But when it came to class participation he was struggling.

Many of the teachers this year were new or people he had never been taught by before. The couple of classes with teachers that had taught him in previous years of high school were fine, because they had eventually gotten used to having a mute child to work with and had adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately these new teachers were being a bit slow on the uptake this year.

For now, Sandy had given up raising his hand to answer questions when he would either be ignored, or not understood at all. On the rare occasions that he had been called on to answer a question or give his opinion he had enthusiastically began signing only to be halted and moved on from. Sandy had tried a couple of different approaches, drawing diagrams or writing what he was trying to say but they often became impatient and asked someone else instead.

The usually calm and tranquil boy found it difficult not to become frustrated. Sandy wasn't going to worry though as long as it didn't affect his grades. He was insulted though when a few of the teachers started to treat him as though he was idiot, speaking to him like he was five.

It became a problem five weeks into the school year. As usual, Sandy had surprised a teacher with the high quality of his homework. This was beginning to change their opinions of his capabilities and IQ in most cases, though it had backfired rather spectacularly with his science teacher, Mr Elm.

On getting his report back he was once again pleased to see an A at the top, but frowned when he saw the note in red pen reading 'See me at the end of class'.

As everyone filed out of the room to get lunch he hung back. Science was the only class North, Sandy, Thea, Jack and Sandy had together. They waited by the door for him.

"_Go ahead, I'll catch up. Mr Elm wants to talk to me about the report."_

The other four shrugged and left, North telling Sandy where they would be when he was done.

"Ah, Mister Mansnoozie. Thank you for waiting, we have a very serious matter to discuss."

Sandy approached the front and signalled for Mr Elm to continue.

"Ahem, yes well you may have noticed I gave your report the grade a high quality piece of work like that deserves."

Sandy signed his thanks but Mr Elm's confused look indicated he hadn't understood and he carried on regardless.

"Unfortunately you and I are going to have to take a trip to the Principal to discuss your punishment."

At this Sandy's gaze flew up to meet Mr Elm's, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Come along, we can get this over with quickly." Mr Elm walked to the door and waited for Sandy to join him. Seeing no other choice he walked with the teacher to the principal's office where his granddad was also waiting. He stood when he saw Sandy and Mr Elm approaching and instantly asked Sandy, "What is this all about?"

Assuming he was talking to him Mr Elm replied, "Everything will be explained, I think we should wait until we are in the privacy of the office."

They filed in, Sandy and his granddad sitting opposite the Principal while Mr Elm took a position standing to the right of the large desk that dominated the room.

The Principal began, "Mr Mansnoozie, Sanderson, thank you for coming along. I'm afraid we are here to discuss a very serious accusation against you." She looked at Sandy as she said this. "Mr Elm here believes that you have been cheating with regards to the homework assignments he has given you."

Both Sandy and his granddad looked shocked at the statement. Sandy began to sign getting faster until his granddad placed his hands over Sandy's. "From what I could understand before Sandy got a little fast for my old eyes, he says this is ridiculous and wants to know on what grounds Mr Elm believes this. I have to say I'm rather curious myself."

At this Mr Elm stepped forward to explain. "Sanderson is producing a high quality of work that I believe to be beyond his abilities. I don't necessarily think he's getting someone else to do all the work for him but he must be getting more help than is strictly permissible."

Sandy found everyone in the room looking at him and tried to keep calm, an emotional outburst would be taken the wrong way without actual words to back up what he was trying to say. So instead he took a deep breath and began signing, remembering to keep the movements slow and clear for his granddad to translate.

"_I have never cheated. I do all the classwork and homework myself. I research the topic and put a lot of time into my work to make it what you see. I neither need nor have help when it comes to homework assignments and I'm insulted that you think I have cheated."_

As this was translated for the two other adults to understand Sandy looked calmly at both making sure to convey his sincerity. Mr Elm however was unconvinced.

"His class work and homework are too good. I'm sorry but I don't get the impression that he comprehends half of what I'm teaching and yet his written work is brilliant! He must be cheating."

The principal raised his eyebrows at this and asked, "Have you ever seen him cheating or doing anything untoward in class?"

"No, I can't say that I have but…"

"And yet his class work is at the same high standard as his homework?"

"Yes but…"

"So if he isn't cheating in class but still producing good work isn't it possible he is doing the same at home?"

"I…suppose so. But he has all his friends around him so he could still be..."

At this the principal cut him off, having heard enough. "Either you are correct Mr Elm and he is pulling something in class, or you are wrong which would suggest you drastically change the way teach on a one-to-one basis. Either way, perhaps you should watch Sanderson more attentively and let me know your findings. Thank you for your time gentlemen."

Sandy and his granddad stood to go, leaving Mr Elm protesting in the office. Sandy gave a silent whistle and his Granddad laughed. "I didn't believe for a second what he said was true. I'm gonna head home, you should make the most of the rest of the lunch. See you later kiddo."

Sandy nodded and smiled, waving farewell before heading outside to look for his friends.

When he found them sitting at a bench, he briefly explained what had happened. To say they were outraged was a slight understatement and Sandy was flattered to see them defending his honour by loudly protesting against the slander.

"We should complain about this!" North stated loudly. "Of course you would never cheat!"

"It's not like you even need to, eh boffin." Aster added, smiling.

Sandy accepted the compliment and had already begun to feel better about the whole incident. They continued their lunch, eventually moving onto a different topic and forgetting the whole thing.

It was exactly a week later, sitting in science class but no longer sitting with the rest of his group. The next day Sandy had been told to sit on the other side of the room so that Mr Elm could keep a better eye on him, and though this had annoyed him and the others he had done as directed. Now Mr Elm was describing stars and their appearance in the night sky.

"…and sometimes you might see stars appear to flash. Anyone want to guess what causes this phenomenon?"

Sandy instantly raised his hand; he always had felt drawn to stars and everything about them. A quick glance revealed he was the only one willing to volunteer an answer. Mr Elm didn't seem too happy but motioned for Sandy to give his response.

Sandy paused and began to write but Mr Elm was clearly not in the mood to wait for a written response. So instead Sandy took a deep breath, clearly impatient and began to sign.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand. Does anyone else want to give it a try?"

"He said it has to do with the refraction of light."

Everyone in the room turned to look over at North, who had understood what Sandy had been signing and noticed the frustration building in the normally calm boy, and had decided to step in.

Sandy beamed at him from across the room, while Mr Elm looked very surprised.

"You…understand him?"  
"Da, we all do." North replied gesturing to Aster, Thea and Jack. Sandy waved his hands to get their attention again and signed. North relayed his message, "He has more to add."

"Er, ok." Mr Elm was finally ready to listen.

Sandy began to sign again getting carried away and going too fast for North to understand, so the larger boy stood and crossed the room to be closer and see better. "Start again, and keep it simple for me."

Sandy smiled and started again, North interpreting as he explained, _"Stars appear to change colour because of the refraction in the atmosphere. As the light produced from a burning star travels through gases and dust in space, the light is affected, and then as the light passes through the Earth's atmosphere it is refracted like light passing through curved glass. The degree of refraction depends on where in the sky the star appears. The light will be refracted to a higher degree the closer the star appears to the horizon and less the higher in the sky it is."_

North was surprised to find he had understood that explanation, and he looked down at Sandy in respect. Sandy signed his thanks and proudly looked at his handiwork.

In response to the quiet almost invisible boy that had seemed a little dim a few minutes ago, Mr Elm was now standing slightly slack-jawed with no idea what to say. The whole classroom had been similarly struck speechless. North subtly high-fived his friend while the others were all trying not to burst into laughter. Sandy was choosing to remain nonchalant. He signed so the others could see, knowing they were the only ones who would know what he was saying.

"_Looks like muteness is contagious."_

* * *

_This is soo exciting, thank you to my first ever follower, Aragorn2377. Hope you enjoyed it, more to follow soon._


	3. Stronger Than They Realise

_This chapter does contain some violence._

* * *

Chapter 3 – Stronger Than They Realise

School was much more enjoyable now that Sandy had finally gotten across to all his teachers that they had been underestimating him. Mr Elm had allowed Sandy to sit with his friends again which also meant they could interpret for him and he could interact in class more.

Unfortunately, what had started as a good week suddenly became overshadowed with the reappearance of Pitch and his gang. The end of the school day found Sandy once again alone at his locker and the corridor was already deserted when a sense of déjà vu hit the short boy. Remembering the last time this particular presence appeared behind him, Sandy released a sigh and turned around.

"Hello again. We never got a chance to finish our last conversation." Pitch's tone suggested they were old friends talking about the weather. The expressions on the three other guys' faces suggested something more sinister.

"_Yeah, well I'm told I'm not much of a conversationalist."_

Pitch laughed. Sandy's nerves were setting him on edge, though he was determined not to show it. He knew that if a physical fight broke out he was heavily outnumbered and didn't really stand a chance, but that didn't mean he wasn't going down fighting.

"Perhaps you're right, and we should skip the pleasantries and go straight to our main order of business."

"_Which is what exactly?"_ Sandy wasn't sure he wanted the answer to that question but it was the best stall tactic he could think of until hopefully he could figure out a way out of this situation.

"Well, you'll remember last time I mentioned I wanted to see your fear. I think the best way to start on this little project is to begin…with pain."

At that last word the three thugs closed in around Sandy and were about to grab him and hold him in place when an Australian accent yelled from the end of the corridor,

"Hey, rack off!"

Everyone turned to see Aster, North, Thea and Jack approaching. The guys about to grab Sandy backed off a step but were still surrounding him. "Well, well, if it isn't your personal guard." Pitch was looking smug despite the interruption.

"Yeah, so you'd better back off unless you wanna see a world of hurt!" Thea was scary when she got angry, and nothing got her more riled up then when a friend was being threatened. Unfortunately it didn't have the desired affect she was hoping for.

Although the numbers were now even on both sides, (Sandy was still surrounded and not even considered much of a threat), the gang members knew that their leader preferred not to get his hands dirty. Add that to the fact that North was a wall of muscle and Aster was a known martial artist and they figured it would be wise to leave this for another day.

They weren't going to go anywhere without Pitch's say so though; the repercussions of showing weakness would be too severe. Luckily for them Pitch could see the futility of a fight there and signalled that they were leaving.

Pitch sneered down at Sandy, "Until next time," and then he was gone.

* * *

"Is that the first time you've had a problem with them?" Thea was worried for her quiet friend.

They were all walking home and unfortunately the others weren't ready to move on from what had just happened. Sandy rubbed the back of his neck, clearly giving them their answer.

"Why didn't you say something to us sooner?" North was a little concerned that he hadn't come to tell them about this.

Sandy merely shrugged, _"It wasn't really a problem."_

"Not a problem! Sandy they were about to pummel you!" Jack couldn't believe Sandy was trying to blow this off as no big deal.

"Yeah, no offence mate but you didn't exactly have much of a chance there. I mean you're hardly a warrior," Aster chipped in.

Sandy frowned. Okay so he was shorter than them and wasn't prone to losing his temper like someone he knew; he glanced at Aster; but that didn't mean he was completely helpless.

Thea was a bit more gentle, "You have to be more careful to avoid people like that, especially those as dangerous as Pitch and his gang."

"And we might not be there to help you next time." North hadn't meant to sound condescending but that was how Sandy heard it.

The others carried this conversation on most of the way home, ignoring Sandy's insistent signing that he could take care of himself and didn't appreciate being treated as if he was helpless. In the end he simply rolled his eyes at them, but this too went unnoticed.

* * *

It didn't take long for Pitch to keep his promise and once again catch Sandy on his own at the end of the school day, this time waiting outside for his friends.

Pitch situated himself right in front of Sandy with the other three spread around him in a way that meant one was always just out of his line of sight. They had done this before then.

"Now, where were we?" As Pitch said this Sandy saw them close in around him and calmly signed, _"I find it hard to believe you need three people to back you up against me. Or are you too weak to face me one on one?"_

This clearly struck a nerve with the gang leader and he snarled at his underlings, "Stand back!" Collecting himself he returned to speaking as though talking about the weather. "I don't usually get my hands dirty on such menial things but you are lucky enough to rub me the wrong way. So I'm going to take pleasure in teaching you the real meaning of fear personally."

At that he quickly advanced on Sandy who dodged to the left to avoid the punch. Thinking quickly, Sandy allowed Pitch to make the next attack so that he could once again side-step it while sticking his leg out at the last moment. This almost sent Pitch to the floor. He growled in anger at the shorter boy, "Keep still and fight me then!"

"_That would hardly be fair since you clearly have a height advantage."_

Pitch gave a sadistic smile. "I'm hardly going to play by the rules now, am I? And speaking of advantages…" Pitch pulled something out of his back pocket and flicked it open. It was a switch blade, not very big but still, enough to cause plenty of damage.

This had just become a whole new level of serious for Sandy, who realised he could get seriously hurt or worse. Glaring at Pitch and keeping a very close watch on the knife, Sandy swung his backpack off his shoulders and let it rest on the floor while keeping a grip on it.

This time when Pitch moved in close in order to use his weapon, Sandy swung his backpack up and knocked the hand wielding the knife back and outwards. Pitch did not lose his grip on the knife but Sandy took the opportunity to swing the bag back around and into Pitch's head, knocking him off balance, and then again low, sweeping Pitch's leg out from under him and this time sending him to the floor.

Sandy sent a warning glare down at Pitch telling him to stay down, and threw his bag into the fallen boy's stomach, winding him when he tried to get up.

The knife had fallen at the feet of one of Pitch's goons, who quickly picked it up. Before he or one of the others had a chance to do anything though, shouts were heard by a group approaching them. The knife was quickly pocketed before it was seen as Sandy's friends arrived, surprised at the scene before them. Pitch was helped up and led quickly away from the embarrassment, leaving Sandy to release his bag and dust his hands off in a 'job well done' gesture.

Jack was the first to find his voice but he spoke for all of them when he said, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Sandy just smiled.

* * *

_Once again, thank you to those who are patiently reading. I hope not to leave too much of a wait for the next chapter and as fair warning, the violence does continue and escalate. I can't help the Sandy whump, my fingers just like typing it that way :p_


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